It is commonly recognized that persons who have been traumatically injured or are afflicted by disease or a disorder have physical injuries and/or gross symptoms which are typically accompanied by the release of potentially infectious blood and other body fluids which may harbor bacteria, viruses, or other hazardous and toxic agents. The variety of potentially hazardous body fluids and liquid wastes includes not only infectious blood, lymph fluid, sputum, and the other body fluids comprising or protecting the major tissues and organs internally; but also urine, excrement, fouled water, ambient hazardous chemicals and toxic agents, mud and other soil mixtures, as well as other major parts of the environment in which the individual works or lives. These potentially hazardous fluids may then contaminate, injure, or infect the emergency medical personnel; the physicians, surgeons, nurses, and technicians within the emergency room or trauma center; other patients and persons in the general hospital environment; and, all too often, the pathologists and attendants examining the body tissue or performing the autopsy, especially when a lethal and possibly contagious agent or disease was the true cause of death. The containment of such potentially hazardous body fluids and liquid wastes from or used in conjunction with a diseased or injured person is a "universal precaution" of major importance; and such "universal precautions" are currently under increasing scrutiny and governmental regulation to provide improved protective general procedures in order to avoid and prevent possible infection and contamination of medical and technical personnel.
It has now been well recognized that current procedures for removing potentially hazardous body fluids and liquid wastes released by a living or dead person during medical treatment or via autopsy are often inadequate, inefficient, or actually hazardous. Often, body fluid and liquid waste is absorbed only via the use of bulky sheets or drapes with minimal absorptive capacity; such articles can not usually absorb the quantity of released fluid and then typically drip the fluid and other liquid waste onto the surrounding environment and supporting personnel, particularly when the subject is moved from place to place.
In addition, it is often very desirable to isolate a patient as soon as possible in order to provide two different kinds of protection. These are: protection of the injured and sick from potential exposure to contaminants in the air; and protection of attendants and workers from the contaminated body fluids and wastes released by the sick or injured.
The protection of the sick and injured is often a critical requirement. For example, a burn victim, having lost the use of his protective skin layer, is very vulnerable to incidental infection and should be isolated from potential contaminants present in the ambient environment. Similarly, an AIDS patient is very prone to infection since the HIV virus has meaningfully disabled the victim's immune system and substantially lowered the patient's ability to resist disease. Other instances would include a cancer patient undergoing chemotherapy which concomittantly renders the cancer patient vulnerable to acquiring accidental infections from the environment. All of these persons would fare markedly better if they were isolated from the ambient environment during their medical treatments.
The alternate form of protection provided by isolation is intended for those persons in close contact with the sick or injured patient. In many instances also, when unfortunately the subject has died of his injuries or disease, it is also then desirable to isolate the corpse of the subject. Nevertheless, particularly in autopsy and embalming procedures, the potentially hazardous body fluids and liquid waste is often allowed to drain directly into septic systems. In addition, these procedures typically lead to contamination of the skin, clothing, and person of the attending personnel; and all too often contaminate the equipment, furniture, and the general surrounding environment where the corpse is held. In such instances, isolation is extremely important to protect the physicians during autopsy and the embalming personnel especially when a lethal and possibly contagious disease was the cause of death of the subject.
The severity of the problem is best illustrated and understood by following the normal course of events which typically occur after a call for an ambulance or emergency medical personnel has been initiated to a particular site. A standard part of the equipment that an ambulance and emergency medical personnel bring to the wounded or infected person is a stretcher--destined for aiding and supporting the injured or sick person from the original site where found to an emergency room or trauma center. The typical stretcher is an upholstered or cushioned bed supported on a frame and has wheeled collapsible legs which aid in the moving of the body of the person after placement on the stretcher. All too often the stretcher itself is covered merely with a thin fibrous sheets and/or blankets upon which the injured or infected person is placed. Typically, the medical attendants roll up the side of the sheet and blanket to prevent the body fluids (including blood and human waste) from dripping onto their person or from splattering the general environment surrounding the place where the patient has been found.
As an aid, absorbent padding is in wide spread use, typically as wedges, bolts, sponges, or other shapes of cloth placed along the perimeter